Macquarie Law School professor named UN Special Rapporteur

Macquarie Law School’s Professor Surya Deva has been named the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development by the UN Human Rights Council.

Deva, who is also director of the Centre for Environmental Law at Macquarie, commences the role on 1 May for an initial term lasting three years. He is only the second person to take on the position, having been appointed on 4 April at the end of a “rigorous selection process” with recommendation from the Human Rights Council president.

“I am honoured and delighted to take up the role of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development. By adopting an inclusive, consultative and intersectional approach, I will aim to mainstream the right to development and push for its realisation in all world regions”, Deva said.

The right to development is defined as the “right of every human being to participate in, to contribute to and to benefit from economic, social, cultural and political development”, Macquarie University said. The university described Deva’s appointment as an independent human rights expert to be “one of the highest recognitions in the field”.

As UN Special Rapporteur, Deva will establish international standards on the right to development and produce annual reports to be presented before the UN Human Rights Council (Geneva) and the UN General Assembly (New York). He will also offer governments technical advice, assess states’ implementation of the right to development through country visits, and consolidate complaints on violations of the right to development by states and other actors.

The first UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development was elected by the Human Rights Council in 2016 to help put into action the Declaration on the Right to Development.